Big appetite? Try to get your mouth around these 10 dining challenges in Las Vegas!

With Thanksgiving recently past and Christmas on its way, this is prime feasting time. Full of great dining choices, Las Vegas is the perfect place to enjoy the food celebration season. In Sin City there’s glory in gluttony. Five restaurants will put your mettle and stomach capacity to the test. And we’ve found five more super-sized dishes that you’ll want to sink your teeth into – for personal pleasure. Don’t worry if you can’t finish each and every bite. You’ll still emerge victorious because you’ll have leftovers to last for the rest of your visit!

Five fun dare-you-to-finish meals

• One formidable food test is the “Eight-Pound Burger Challenge” at The Pub in Monte Carlo. More than 100 people have tried this extremely delicious dining task, but only two have triumphed. As a contender, you’ll be given 45 minutes to finish a four-pound hamburger on a giant bun. It’s piled high with cheese (10 slices!), lettuce, tomatoes, jalapeños and caramelized onions. In addition, you’ll have to imbibe a 32-ounce boot of beer or root beer. This burger normally costs $29. If you devour it in the allotted time, it’s free! Winners will also receive a free T-shirt, and their names will go down in the annals of The Pub’s history.

• Serious carnivores should head to Brand Steakhouse, also located at Monte Carlo, for the “Ultimate Steak Challenge.” You’ll be presented with an epic feast here. The centerpiece, of course, is the succulent 120-ounce steak (priced at a $250), which is served with two signature sauces and your choice of a side dish. If you can consume everything, the meal is on the house. Take heed, though, as this is sure to test your loyalty to beef as well as make you apprehensive about your cholesterol levels.

• In town for the National Finals Rodeo? Harrah’s is home to Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill. A rollicking place, it’s also got an appetizing deal for big eaters – the “Big Dog Daddy Challenge.” This 100-ounce meal (that’s 6.25 pounds, for those who need help with the math!) features a 32-ounce Angus beef burger in a 10-ounce bun that’s topped with four ounces of cheese, four ounces of veggies and a two-ounce pickle. Plus, it comes with 16 ounces of Freedom Fries and a couple of Southern-Fried Twinkies. This is all to be washed down with 32 ounces of Coors Light beer. The meal costs $35.99 ($34.99 for Total Rewards card holders) no matter what, but if you can scoff it all down by yourself, you’ll leave wearing a free souvenir Toby Keith T-shirt!

• Calling all pizza fans! Head to family-owned Graziano’s at 8410 W. Desert Inn Road. It’s been in business since 1969. You’ll discover a “Monster Pizza Challenge” here that’s sure to make you question your amore for Italian food. Their 24-inch behemoth pizza weighs approximately 10 pounds. Along with 2.5 pounds of dough, you’ll chomp into 1.5 pounds of sauce, two pounds of meat toppings, two pounds of vegetable toppings and two pounds of cheese. Teams of two are given 45 minutes to tame this so-called “beast.” If you succeed, the pizza is free, and you’ll also receive two more complimentary large pizzas, two T-shirts and bragging rights. If you don’t, you’ll have to shell out about $50 for the experience.

• Got a thing for desserts? Rick Moonen’srm seafoodin The Shoppes at Mandalay Place has the ideal competition for you. See how accomplished your taste buds are during “Rick’s Tasting Game.” It features 16 different ice cream and sorbet flavors. They range from savory to sweet. You’ll be asked to identify each scoop. If you get them all right, the $18 banquet is yours gratis.

Five more gigantic dishes to eat!

One of the towering sandwiches built at Carnegie Deli in The Mirage (photo courtesy of MGM Resorts International)

• For heavyweight burger enthusiasts, there’s nothing quite like the Quadruple Bypass Burger at the Heart Attack Grill in downtown Las Vegas. Early this year, a version of that artery-blocking menu item earned the irreverent restaurant, which is dedicated to everything that’s bad for your health (i.e., a pat of butter is laid atop each shake and fries are cooked in lard), a certificate from Guinness World Records proclaiming it: “The most calorific burger.” Weighing in at more than three pounds, it was packed with 9,982 calories. Ordinarily, the Quadruple Bypass Burger, which costs $12.94, is closer to two pounds and registers about 8,000 calories. With four meat patties, four slices of cheese, 20 pieces of bacon, red onions, tomatoes and the Heart Attack Grill’s special sauce, it’s still mammoth-sized and not for the weak-stomached.

• Are you a lightweight in the burger department? Make tracks for the Longhorn Casino at 5288 Boulder Hwy., on the corner of Harmon Avenue. It has a friendly 24-hour coffee shop called the Chuck Wagon Restaurant. On the menu, you’re sure to notice the one-pound Monster Burger. In addition to the giant meat patty and big bun, it comes with lettuce, tomatoes and onions as well as a heaping helping of fries. The cost is only $9.99. If you clean your plate, you’ll be given a certificate of completion.

• You haven’t seen two overstuffed pieces of bread until you’ve been to Carnegie Deli in The Mirage. Transplanted from New York City, this wonderful delicatessen constructs sandwiches that rise to the 10-, 11- and even 12-inch marks on a foot-long ruler. Oy vey! Generally priced between $23.99 and $26.99, you can gorge on one of 14 delicious “Gargantuan Combos” – ranging from the Carnegie Haul (a triple-decker of pastrami, tongue and salami) to the Club Dear (three layers of roasted turkey, grilled bacon, lettuce and tomato). If one of these doesn’t fill you up, conclude your visit with a piece of Carnegie Deli’s award-winning four-inch cheesecake.

The King Kong Sundae at the Sugar Factory in Paris Las Vegas (photo courtesy of Wicked Creative)

• Speaking of desserts, theSugar Factory brasserie at Paris Las Vegas has a ridiculous array of enticing creations, but the biggest and most decadent, without a doubt, is the King Kong Sundae, priced at $49.95. First, 16 scoops of ice cream are piled into a dish. (Note: This is a scaled-down version of the sundae because originally it was made with 20 scoops!) Next, sauces like caramel, hot fudge, strawberry and marshmallow are drizzled on. More temptations are thrown into the mix including sprinkles, chocolate chip cookies, waffle cones, Gummy bears, pieces of banana, walnuts and whipped cream. And for the pièce de résistance…a trio of tall twisty rainbow swirl lollipops are inserted.

• Billy Bob’s Steak House & Saloon in Sam’s Town Hotel & Gambling Hall has a not-to-be-missed treat too. On the dessert menu is a one-foot-long chocolate éclair for $11. The pastry is light and flaky, while the custard filling is simply divine. Served with scoops of vanilla ice cream, this concoction is also topped with whipped cream and extra chocolate sauce – a chocoholic’s feast, indeed!

I’m a Las Vegas native. By profession, I write at Vegas.com. Mostly about the city’s hotels, but on other topics – gaming and transportation – too. I really love staying at hotels. And the ones here are among the biggest and best in the world. Some key things I’ve learned: Resort fees are inescapable (frustrating but true), a friendly attitude at the front desk may score you a great view and over-the-top room amenities – bath butlers, Japanese tea service, menus with “intimate” items – do exist. What else should you know about me? Well, I’m comfortable at a blackjack table. And I like eating late-night pancakes in hotel coffee shops. A lot. Follow Renee on Google+.